How to Compare Packaging and CPG Affiliate Programs

Compare payout per order, not the headline rate

A headline commission percentage is only one input in a payout comparison. Programs with different rates can produce similar payouts, or reverse their apparent ranking, depending on the commissionable base, attribution, reversals and costs.

Choose a comparison period and define your denominator before comparing programs. For example, estimate net earnings per 100 audience-generated orders over one year, including orders that may not receive attribution. If you can only measure program-attributed orders, label that denominator clearly and evaluate attribution separately. Apply contractual discount treatment, reversals and costs consistently. Seek written answers to vague terms before committing content or audience attention.

This guide is an editorial planning framework from Teal Packaging. It is not legal advice, and it is not a description of a live Teal affiliate or referral program. Teal referral material describes evaluation criteria and proposed workflows rather than a running program with published rates.

The four inputs that move every payout number

These four areas are useful starting points for a comparison, not an exhaustive list of program terms. Read the agreement and record each answer alongside payout timing, eligibility and any other restrictions.

• Commission base. Is the rate applied to product subtotal, subtotal after discounts, or order total including shipping and tax? A 12 percent rate on a discounted subtotal can pay less than an 8 percent rate on order total when discounts are deep or shipping and tax make up a large share of the order. Fixed fees and returns can then widen or reverse the gap.
• Clawback and return window. If a customer returns the product, is the commission reversed, and for how long after the order? A long return window with reversal means your reported earnings are not your settled earnings.
• Cookie and attribution window. How long after a qualifying interaction can an order receive credit, and which model decides credit when several partners touch the same customer? A shorter window can exclude later purchases, but its actual effect depends on customer behavior and the program's tracking and attribution rules.
• Participation costs and conditions. Deduct applicable platform fees, required sample purchases and content production costs for the comparison period. Record minimum activity thresholds separately and check whether they affect eligibility, payment or fees; a threshold is not itself a monetary deduction.

A hypothetical worked example, with arithmetic shown

The numbers below are hypothetical inputs, not a quote, market benchmark or prediction. Assume a one-year comparison with 100 orders credited to each program, identical order values within each program, full commission reversal on eight returns, and no other costs. Attribution differences are excluded. The annual fee is deducted in full, and per-order results use all 100 initially credited orders, including returns.

Program A advertises 12 percent on product subtotal. Assume an average product subtotal of 80 dollars, an average discount of 15 percent, so the commissionable subtotal is 68 dollars. Multiply 0.12 by 68 to get 8.16 dollars per order. Across 100 referred orders that is 816 dollars. Assume 8 of those orders are returned inside the clawback window, so subtract 8 times 8.16, which is 65.28 dollars, leaving 750.72 dollars. Program A also charges an illustrative 250 dollar annual platform fee, which brings the net to 500.72 dollars.

Program B advertises 8 percent on order total. Assume the same 68 dollar discounted subtotal plus 9 dollars of shipping paid by the customer, so the commissionable total is 77 dollars. Multiply 0.08 by 77 to get 6.16 dollars per order. Across 100 orders that is 616 dollars. Subtract 8 returned orders at 6.16 dollars, which is 49.28 dollars, leaving 566.72 dollars with no fixed fee.

Program A nets 500.72 dollars and Program B nets 566.72 dollars, a 66 dollar difference in favor of the lower headline rate. Per order, that is 5.01 dollars against 5.67 dollars. Change the return rate or the fixed fee and the ranking can flip, which is the point: model the inputs rather than trusting the percentage.

Participation fees and the packaging cost behind the commission

Affiliate economics sit on top of product margin, and for packaging and CPG brands that margin is shaped by what the supplier charges before anything ships. Some packaging suppliers charge setup, plate or tooling fees that appear once and then sit inside your cost base for the whole campaign. Teal does not charge setup, plate or tooling fees, and standard minimum order quantity is 50 units, with 100 units for specialty rigid work. Product pricing is quoted per project.

If a program pays commission on order total including shipping, model shipping cost as part of the merchant's margin. FedEx packaging guidelines, for example, set chargeable weight as the greater of actual weight or dimensional weight. Dimensional weight is calculated by multiplying length by width by height in inches and dividing by 139 for U.S., Puerto Rico and international shipments. Other carriers and services may use different divisors, so check the merchant's carrier terms. A light but bulky mailer can therefore cost more to ship than its scale weight suggests, which is a margin question worth raising with the merchant before you build content around free shipping offers.

Disclosure duties you inherit as an affiliate

Commission payments are generally a material connection, and material connections carry disclosure expectations. Under the FTC Endorsement Guides at 16 CFR 255.5, when a connection between an endorser and the seller might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement and the audience would not reasonably expect it, that connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. Monetary payment and free or discounted products are named as examples of material connections. Disclosure is needed when a significant minority of the audience does not understand or expect the connection.

The guide does not require you to publish the full contract. It calls for a disclosure that communicates the nature of the connection well enough for a reader to weigh it. In practice, that means deciding where the disclosure sits relative to the link and the claim, and whether a reader who skims will still see it. Ask each program whether it supplies disclosure language, whether it reviews your content, and who is responsible if a post goes out without one. Get the answer in writing.

This guide does not determine compliance for your situation. Treat disclosure as a review step with a named owner, and take advice on your own content if the relationship is unusual.

Attribution, returns and coupon leakage

Reported and settled earnings can differ. Returns may reverse commissions under the agreement. Coupon or cashback partners may receive credit under the attribution rules, and cross-device journeys may lose attribution unless supported tracking connects them. These effects are not, by themselves, evidence of misconduct. Model them where relevant and distinguish documented terms from estimates.

Ask for the attribution model in plain language and for any available data on how much reported commission settles. If settlement data is unavailable, test explicitly labeled reversal scenarios rather than presenting an assumed reduction as fact. Revisit estimates after the relevant return and payout windows close. Compare settled dollars using the same period and order denominator, and evaluate attribution separately if your denominator includes only credited orders.

Decision table: matching program design to your audience

Use this table to convert program terms into questions. The right column tells you what to do when the answer does not arrive.

A practical evaluation checklist

Work through these items for each program and record the answers in one place so the comparison stays honest.

• Write down the commission base exactly as the agreement defines it, including discount and shipping treatment.
• Record the cookie or attribution window and return clawback period as separate durations, and describe the attribution model in words.
• List platform fees, required paid samples and content production costs for the comparison period. Record minimum activity and exclusivity requirements separately, including any associated costs or eligibility consequences.
• Confirm who owns the creative, who approves claims, and how quickly changes can be made.
• Confirm the disclosure language the program expects and where it must appear.
• Ask what documentation the program provides for settled earnings and payout timing.
• Check whether the program restricts the channels or formats you actually use, and confirm current channel requirements in your own agreements rather than assuming.
• Run the per-order model at your realistic volume, then again at half that volume to see whether fixed fees break it.

Scope and limits of this guide

This guide covers how to structure a comparison, not how to predict results. It does not state current rates, fees or terms for any named affiliate network, retailer or channel, and it does not establish tax, legal or regulatory obligations for your business. Program terms change, and the agreement you sign controls.

The worked example uses invented inputs and simple arithmetic. It is an estimate exercise, not a validation of any program's performance, and it is not a substitute for your own payout data. Where a program's terms are ambiguous, the correct next step is a written question to the program owner, not an assumption built into a spreadsheet.

Questions about affiliate program comparison for packaging and CPG